Unaccompanied singing in worship may be slightly unusual to us in our contemporary context—in this part of the country, that practice is mostly associated with the Churches of Christ and the Restoration movement. But you may not know that singing with voices alone was a widespread practice in the church for much of its history—from the chant melodies that filled…
The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music. —Martin Luther This Sunday marks the annual observance of Reformation Sunday, when we remember with thanksgiving God’s hand of providence in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, the German monk who launched the Reformation by…
In Acts 4, we see the Apostles presenting the gospel with tremendous courage in the face of intense opposition. The contrast between God and His people and their enemies is a theme found throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the psalms that make up much of our service this morning. The nations rage and plot vainly, but the voice of the…
The representation of Jesus as a “cornerstone,” primarily found in Psalm 118, can be seen throughout this morning’s service. Nearly all of Pastor Jamie’s Scripture selections (the Call to Worship, Scripture Reading, Confession of Sin, Assurance of Pardon, Benediction) are taken from that majestic messianic psalm, which we’ll also sing at the opening of the service (O Thank The Lord,…
You may notice that this morning’s service is a bit more solemn than usual. That is on purpose. Apart from the exuberant opening psalm setting (From Heav’n O Praise The Lord—Psalm 148), the Scripture passages and hymns chosen for the service reflect on the sobering call to repentance at the end of Act 3. Hearing Peter urge his brothers to…
This morning’s service presents a theme of healing and restoration, both physical and spiritual. We sing All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name, declaring along with Peter that “faith in His name—has made [us] strong” (Acts 3:16). Scripture readings throughout the service declare God’s promises to “strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees” (Isaiah 35:3), to make…
The hymns and psalms we sing this morning all point to the mission and work of the church, which we see modelled in the short coda to Acts chapter 2. We celebrate that “through the church the song goes on” (Holy God, We Praise Your Name). We confess Christ as the cornerstone of this new Zion that “bind[s] all the…
After the past two weeks where we have seemingly observed Ascension and Pentecost for a second time this year, this Sunday we’ll experience a second Easter! Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 emphasizes the physical reality of Jesus’ resurrection and His victory over death, as do many of the elements in this morning’s service. We’ll be reminded that Jesus called Himself…
If it seems like we just recently sang many of the psalms and hymns in this morning’s service, you’re absolutely correct! Many of these pieces were chosen for the service on May 19 to align with the church calendar (May 19 was Pentecost Sunday this year). This week, the story of Pentecost from Acts 2 is our sermon text. Once…
Most of the elements in this morning’s service relate in some way to Jesus’ ascension, a story found in the first three verses of this morning’s sermon text (Acts 1:9-11). We are called into worship by Psalm 68, which foresees God Himself “ascend[ing] on high, leading a host of captives in [His] train.” We’ll sing several hymns, such as O…
